Business in historic building to change hands. All you need to know

Ross Reily, Mississippi Clarion Ledger
·3 min read

You can hear the commercials proclaiming that everything must be liquidated at Carter Jewelry in Downtown Jackson.

It seems that at some point during every year, commercials suggest, "everything must go."

However, this time around, much of the inventory at what owners say is Mississippi's oldest jewelry store, and one of the oldest businesses of any type, will be liquidated and owner Jerry Lake will actually retire.

Lake said he is selling the business to his son, Jay, who will become the fifth owner of the business and the building since it first opened in 1849.

Jerry Lake, owner of Carter Jewelers on High Street in Jackson, Miss., is retiring. Lake, in the store Tuesday, Dec. 12, bought the jewelry store in 1997. Carter Jewelers is one of the oldest continuously run jewelry stores in the United States. Lake’s son, Jay Lake, will be taking over the business.
Jerry Lake, owner of Carter Jewelers on High Street in Jackson, Miss., is retiring. Lake, in the store Tuesday, Dec. 12, bought the jewelry store in 1997. Carter Jewelers is one of the oldest continuously run jewelry stores in the United States. Lake’s son, Jay Lake, will be taking over the business.

The business will stay in the building at 711 High Street in Jackson is just three blocks from the capital and has survived the Civil War, Reconstruction, the Great Depression, two world wars and most recently the COVID-19 pandemic.

When Lake took over the business in 1997, Carter Jewelers was the third oldest jewelry store in all of America, he said. Bixler's Jewelry in Easton, Pennsylvania, which opened in 1785, has since closed. That leaves Merkley Kendrick Jewelry in Louisville, Kentucky (1832) as the only jewelry store older than Carter Jewelers, according to Lake.

The building has a historical marker from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History in the parking lot.

"It's just time for me to do something different," Lake said. "After a little rest and relaxation, I will be around to help. But it's just time for someone else to be in charge of the finances and the taxes and everything that goes with the stress of that."

A historical marker sits in front of Carter Jewelry on Tuesday, Dec. 12, tracing the ownership of the jewelry store since it started in 1849. In its 174 years of existence, the jewelry store has only had four owners. It is one of the oldest continuously run jewelry stores in the United States.
A historical marker sits in front of Carter Jewelry on Tuesday, Dec. 12, tracing the ownership of the jewelry store since it started in 1849. In its 174 years of existence, the jewelry store has only had four owners. It is one of the oldest continuously run jewelry stores in the United States.

With Jay Lake buying the business, Carter Jewelers will retain the title of being a continuously run jewelry store.

Jerry said that currently, the business has more than $1 million of inventory and that he is trying to get that down to around $300,000 before he sells it.

"That's all you really need," Lake said. "And it will take a lot of headaches away from the business moving forward."

When the business was originally established, it was known as Carl J. Von Seutter Jewelry and Art Emporium. In 1918, the store was purchased by John Carter and renamed Carter Jewelers. Lee G. Wetlinger took over the business in 1946 and kept the name, and that is who Lake bought it from in 1997.

"Generation after generation of families have come here to buy engagement rings," Lake said. "It is a part of the fabric of Mississippi at this point."

Carter Jewelers on High Street in Jackson, Miss., seen Tuesday, Dec. 12, is one of the oldest continuously run jewelry stores in the United States. Owner Jerry Lake is retiring and his son, Jay Lake, will be taking over the business.
Carter Jewelers on High Street in Jackson, Miss., seen Tuesday, Dec. 12, is one of the oldest continuously run jewelry stores in the United States. Owner Jerry Lake is retiring and his son, Jay Lake, will be taking over the business.

Jerry is a native of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and has been a diamond broker since 1974. He once opened a retail store in Tuscaloosa, but sold that.

When he bought the store in 1997, Lake said he paid around $1.2 million for the business and the property combined. He said details of the sale to his son have not been completed, but he expects the numbers will be more than what he paid last century.

Staff members already working at Carter's Jewelers are expected to keep their current positions after the sale and transition.

Ross Reily can be reached by email at rreily@gannett.com or 601-573-2952. You can follow him on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter @GreenOkra1.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Historic Jackson MS jewelry business is changing hands